At the Ravensburg penal institution, the Minister for Justice and the Minister for Education and Culture of the Federal State of Baden-Württemberg presented new guidelines for secondary general education and vocational education and training (VET) within the penal system.
Good education and training that matches requirements of the job market constitute the best premise for a life without crime. This is why Baden-Württembergaims toimprove offers for inmates of penal institutions.
The aim is to provide all inmates, irrespective of duration of their sentence, their language competences and their nationality, with programmes that suit their needs, including tuition in German. For this purpose, a set of new guidelines was developed.
One main objective is to intensify contact between schools within and outside the penal system so both sides benefit from each other’s competences. The teachers working within the penal system have specific competences in supporting young people with special education histories in line with their needs. Teachers working with inmates should also have the same pre-service training and further training opportunities as those working in mainstream education and training. The ministries therefore intend to develop further joint continuing teacher training programmes.
Also, strong emphasis is placed on integration into educational and professional life after inmates have served their prison sentences. Final exams are conducted with vocational schools and chambers and graduates receive the respective certificates and qualifications. One aim is to enable young people who leave the penal institution before completing their training to continue seamlessly outside. In addition to new concepts, this requires increased awareness training and public relations efforts as well as joint strategies with chambers and industrial associations.